It was a night much like any other in the town of Summervale, and the Green Dragon Inn was as lively as ever. Amidst the clanking and sloshing of flagons of mead could be heard tales of the day?s deeds, laughter shared between old friends over a pint, and even the occasional threat or two. So a newcomer to the inn would have been quite taken aback by what happened next.

At precisely nine o?clock, the barkeep pulled out a large, golden chime and struck it thrice in quick succession. On cue, a tremendous hush settled over the patrons, and after the last few chortles and punches thrown, all eyes settled on a stage that, until then, had almost been hidden from view.

It was at this moment that a solitary bard strolled out from behind the curtain. Clad in green from head to foot, his hair black as ebony, he walked with a bounce in his step and a smile on his face. The crowd burst into applause, for this was no mere bard: this was Morelios, the creator of that magical realm which had no title, where spell-flinging wizards and vicious dragons did battle.

?Tonight,? the bard began, his smile as wide as ever, ?It?s my tremendous pleasure to present another chapter in The Saga of the Nameless Lands!?

Welcome to the Saga of the Nameless Lands, a unique experiment in RPF community building and socializing. You see, whereas the typical RP takes place exclusively on the boards, the Saga of the Nameless Lands (or SoNL for short) is instead designed to be based in an AIM chatroom using a traditional ?session? format. As such, it could almost be considered ?RPF Lite? in that the roleplaying is intended to be far more casual and fast paced than your usual standard RP. In addition, SoNL utilizes the Fourth Edition rules for Dungeons and Dragons, and is also intended to serve as a teaching tool for this rules set.

The game takes place entirely in the custom campaign setting known as the Nameless Lands, which is based on the generic setting hinted at in the DnD core rulebooks as interpreted and expanded upon by myself, the GM (Or rather, the Dungeon Master or [i]D[/i]M) and focuses on a group of intrepid adventurers as they make their way through multiple quests and dungeons in the pursuit of power, riches, glory, and more. Along the way, they might even learn that all is not as it seems in the realm.

As the format of SoNL is unconventional, the standard RPF rules have been expanded upon to address format concerns:

1. The game shall operate under the rules of the Fourth Edition of Dungeons and Dragons.
2. The DM (Yours truly) reserves the right to make final calls on all interpretations of the rules in the interest of avoiding ?bogging down? the session in rule arguments. By extension, the DM?s word is law.
3. Games shall be held at predetermined times, agreed to by the DM and the players, in the AIM chatroom [b]rpfdndchat[/b]. Spectators are encouraged.
4. Spectator and OOG comments are allowed in the chatroom, but if it becomes excessive you will be asked to take it to either the rpfchat or this thread.
5. All die rolls must be made in the chatroom using a die roller program. The DM reserves the right to make secret rolls out of the public eye.
6. After each session, an update post, compiled together from the chat, shall be posted in this thread. In addition we welcome OOC banter by players and audience members alike in this thread.
7. All prospective sheets must be PMed to me. Approved CSes may then be posted. However, we currently have a full roster of six players, and so all prospective CSes will be placed on the waiting list.
8. There is no rule 8.
9. Have fun!

[b]Special thanks to Imperial_Hammer and DarthXan318 for their approvals, and to Penguinator-176 and Trimaj for all of their help and ideas.[/b]

[i]Ramza Speed DnD[/i]
Attacks are made as normal. But instead of rolling damage, the following rules apply:
A hit by a player on an enemy does 2x maximum damage. A critical hit does 3x maximum damage.
A hit on a player by an enemy or fellow player does 1x maximum damage. A critical hit, 2x. This also applies to healing, since it's essentially an anti-hit to another player, if that makes sense. That also keeps the healing from outpacing the damage being dealt.

[i]The Enjoyment Clause[/i]
If your IC or OOC conduct is deemed to be detrimental to the enjoyment of the game by other players, you will receive a PM asking you to stop. If the behavior continues, you will be ejected. This rule is non-negotiable.>

So, me and Trimaj were scheming over a strategy today, and we came up with this:

Trimaj will use his character's daily spell on my character, in order to give it the poison effect. This doesn't matter, because I actually want Kriv (my character) to get to the point where he is bloodied, so he can get his Dragonborn Fury +1 bonus to attacks. This means, that the healers will have to not pay attention, but at the same time pay attention. They should only heal him when he is likely to be killed by one or two of the opponent's attacks.

Just a bit of discussion, since two of the players in the campaign probably won't make it on Tuesday, perhaps we could have it on Thursday? That way I might be able to get a "gift" in game, for the 16th is my birthday.

i didn't say i WOULDN'T be there... just that i might not. may not be that coherent, and if that's the case i'll probably just head off back to bed or la la land. so should still be six... at least to start.

Last-minute change - I may or may not be able to make it today. We're apparently going to the city and might catch a play on Broadway too, so I'm not sure if I'll make it back by 8pm EST. I'll do my best, though...

[link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvP0uwl3Q6A]Tale I ? I Am Rather Fond of Shinies, or Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap[/link]

It was an eve much like any other in the small town of Sarn?s Pass in the year 1453 of the New Calendar. Nestled in the midst of the vast Caghon Forest, due south of the famous Magocratic Metropolis of Cairne, Sarn?s Pass was notable for it?s proximity to the burial chamber of an old king whose name had been lost long ago. Needless to say, the only reason anyone went to Sarn?s Pass was it?s rather convenient tavern located along the main pass from Cairne to Golos.

This inn, the Red Rock Tavern to be more precise, was run by Norlean McTaggrith III, as his father and his father?s father had done. Norlean was a portly middle-aged man who had the rather remarkable ability to notice any detail despite seemingly never looking up from a glass he was cleaning. He was fond of boasting that the Red Rock was the ?best place to grab a pint along the Mur River,? but seeing as the Mur River was indeed very small and for the most part was located in dense wooded areas, that wasn?t saying much.

Now, it was a well known fact in Sarn?s Pass that if you needed something done, the best way to get it accomplished was to subcontract out of the bulletin board that McTaggrith I had installed not long after opening the Red Rock. But times were tough in the village, and only the local wizards? guild (a chapter of the much larger Cairne wizards? guild) had managed to post a job. As a result, not a great many things were getting accomplished in Sarn?s Pass that year.

?

It occurs to me that not once have I mentioned the goblins!

Yes, goblin raiding parties had begun attacking Sarn?s Pass only a few months prior to our story?s commencement. It had reached such a peak of intensity and violence that the good mayor of Sarn?s Pass had decided to have a job posted, in fact. And so it was that Bartz the Halfling went down to the Red Rock Tavern to place the advert in the hopes that some brave adventurers would take up the quest.

The adventurers in the room then proceeded to evaluate the two proposals, weighed their options carefully, and then after a rather small debate decided to go after what Kriv, the dragonborn fighter, referred to as ?The Shinies.? One rather unsuccessful attempt to steal a fork later, and the party set off.

The grand quest for more money had begun!

****

Thus our brave, selfless adventurers (And Elial, who in his greed had suggested they assist Sarn?s Pass and not their own wallets) set out in the direction of the local wizards? guild, headed by the famed alchemist Able the Wise. Abel was possessed of extraordinary power and abilities, but was altogether unable to partake in finding the gems himself as the result of gratuitous amounts of paperwork. Not to mention that, despite his rather elaborate proposal, the task had been relegated to third tier status, which was what is typically known as a ?hobby? to the common folk.

After an encounter with a rather bizarre doorman and traversing a bizarre staircase that seemed to defy all known laws of science (And a few that are, as of yet, unknown), the adventurers met with Abel, who filled them in on the details.

The gems were, in actuality, fragments of the legendary Lodestone, a mystical artifact that legends claim held the world ?in its proper order,? but was shattered by the great warrior Laharlt (In a curious coincidence, legends also place Abel as a distant descendent of the warrior, but I digress), which brought about the Catastrophe at the end of the Battle of the Thousand Planes. Abel informed the party that he sought to restore the Lodestone from the legendary 100 shards into which it had been broken. It is believed that, should this be accomplished, the monsters that plague the world would vanish, ushering in a new era of peace and prosperity.

This was not quite ample motivation for Alexander, and he successfully negotiated a hefty reward for each shard. An adventurer has to eat, after all.

You know, now that I actually am looking the sheets, I got to ask... what program did you use for this? Because I think you should ask for a refund. [link=http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/insider/characterbuilder]Especially since WotC offers their own builder free for low levels[/link] and you essentially get every single option from every single book (plus an issue of Dungeon magazine and Dragon magazine per month) if you subscribe for $6 a month. It's a steal.

Anyone mind if I comment on your character mechanics. There seem to be some oddities and things that look as though they'll prove to be kind of unpleasant in the long run, the biggest of which is that three of you have 14s in your primary attack stats, which is pretty much a really bad idea since you're throwing yourself behind the curve that the game is balanced at.

I've been noticing the stat issues during combat as well, those may require retooling and/or power swapping. There are two builds for each class, yes, but we need to play to those builds' strengths. I give LW permission if y'all do.

Also, on combat... I've noticed this is where we slow down to an absolute crawl. I'd like to discuss ways to perhaps accelerate the process. Xan proposed planning actions in advance, which I think would certainly help, but let's throw ideas around.

EDIT: As for the next session... sometime in two weeks. I'm out of town next week sans AIM and book access, and then I don't know my work schedule. Stay tuned as details become available.